#It makes it particularly frustrating for quick answers when you just want to doublecheck stuff but that's just how it is with oral cultures
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gingermintpepper · 4 months ago
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Is there a definitive age order of the Olympians? I seem to find conflicting answers. If not, how do you see the Olympian sibling dynamics?
Ooh, age order huh? Well, there's only a definite age order for the first six Olympians - Hestia is the first born, followed by Demeter, Hera, Hades and then Poseidon! When Rhea's swallowed children were spat up again, they are largely considered as being 'reborn' which makes Zeus - who was never swallowed - the eldest, followed by Poseidon, Hades, Hera, Demeter and then Hestia as the new youngest sibling. Following either of those orders seems to be the most mythologically sound, or the most 'definitive' as you put it, but of course people take many liberties with interpreting it!
The latter six Olympians though - that's a lot trickier as there is straight up no attested order for them being born. Based on the stories of everyone's birth though? The most sensible order to me is Aphrodite - who is born as soon as Kronos' testes hit the ocean, Athena - born from Zeus' first wife Metis, Hephaestus - born from Hera as a response to Athena and then Ares who is the first son born properly to Zeus and Hera as a couple. Last of this set would be the twins, Artemis and Apollo, born out of wedlock as Zeus' first bastard children. Later, after Hades leaves the Dodecatheon and takes his place as a Chthonic god, Hermes would be born to Maia and then much, much later Dionysus would be born to Semele and fill Hestia's spot.
Altogether, that means the most definitive, uncomplicated mythological age order I can give for the Olympians is: Zeus, Poseidon, Hades, Hera, Demeter, Hestia, Aphrodite, Athena, Hephaestus, Ares, Artemis, Apollo, Hermes and finally, Dionysus.
Of course, this can be infinitely more complicated but like, (and many, many people prefer to use the pre-swallowed age order even after Rhea's children are spat up i.e Hestia and Hades as the eldest boy and girl respectively, Zeus as the kid brother) but if you're wondering why there's so many conflicting sources about it, just know that with Greek mythology, it can always get more complicated LMAO.
Now sibling dynamics - this is also an extremely fun question! I have a lot of different ideas about this but for the sake of brevity, I'll make a separate post going over those since I know I'll go ham detailling the sibling dynamics between the elder six and latter six Olympians (minus Aphrodite of course, since she's a Titaness in her own right and not really anyone's sibling).
Thank you so much for asking your questions :D
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